So, today I should be taking my belly photo and celebrating that my due date is one month away, but that is not what I'm doing at all.
The day after my last entry, I woke up feeling like I was peeing my pants. I stood up and felt a small gush, so I went to the bathroom, and peed. That was all that happened, so I went back to bed. An hour later it happened again, and an hour after that, again. I called the family birthing unit and they told me to come in. I got all my stuff ready outside and waited for my mom and my friend to get home to take me to the hospital. I continued to gush, and it increased, every time I moved I felt more, so I was sure it was my water leaking or breaking.
By 2:00 in the afternoon I was in triage. They tested and confirmed it was amniotic fluid leaking out--finally, baby was coming! I didn't have any contractions, so the doctor checked me, and I was 3-4 cm dilated. Baby's head was much further down than the last time I'd been checked. The doctor told me to walk around, try to bring on contractions.
At 4:00 I had a team of people trying to give me an IV, which again was a nightmare. I have brutal bruises and swelling still from all the pokes. I almost passed out, I was very dizzy and had to lie down. It took about half an hour to finally get a vein, on the fourth poke. I am so tired of needles.
I was started on oxytocin, the smallest dose. Right before they started it I had a contraction on my own, and then continued to have them every three minutes or so. They were very mild, I rated them about a 2 out of 10 for pain (the nurse continuously asked me to rate them.)
Every half hour my dosage was increased, and after a couple hours my contractions started to intensify, probably a 3 out of 10, still very tolerable.
The time after this got fuzzy, but around 8:30 I felt like something cracked in my pelvis. It hurt, but didn't last, and sounded like a bone cracking. It scared me, but because the pain didn't continue, I figured everything was fine. After this weird pain, my contractions went from about a 4 all the way to 10 and beyond. Extremely painful, with pressure on the front of my pelvis, under the pubic hair. I told the nurse that the pain was unbearable, and would she please order the epidural right now, now, NOW?? She checked my cervix, said it was 4-5 cm, and rushed to get the tray ready for the doctor to deliver. I kept asking for the epidural, because of the labor I had with Montana, and she said she would, but the tray HAD to be ready. I had a couple contractions, and both the pain and pressure became even more intense. I started to panic.
As soon as the tray was done, the nurse grabbed the phone and called for an epidural. Phew! While she was on the phone, I had a contraction, and the pressure was so incredible I started to freak out. Another nurse checked me, and said the baby's head was coming, and that I could push. I was shocked, because I was just 5 cm at most, and I was panicking even more because this meant that yet again, no epidural.
The good news was that not only was baby's head coming, it was basically halfway out. I started pushing before my doctor even came in, and baby came fast. Luckily Dr. J. made it. Nemo was coming so fast I didn't even need to wait for a contraction to push, she said I could just go for it. So I did, hard. I pushed as hard as I could to make it happen faster. After about ten minutes of pushing, Nemo was out! I ended up tearing a bit, but only needed four stitches on the outside, which I got after a bit of freezing, thank goodness.
So.... what is Nemo? Well, the majority was right, Mommy was wrong: Nemo is a boy! Nemo is a tiny boy. He was born at 9:14 PM, at 35 weeks 1 day gestation. He weighed exactly 6 lbs, which was amazing, but not surprising; I guessed the weight before birth to the exact ounce. He was 18.5 inches, little shorty! While I was being stitched up they did the whole newborn check, and had a pediatrician in to check him because he was premature. They said he was so healthy that if he ate well, he could go home in 48 hours. I was in shock! I'd been prepared and warned that he'd be in the NICU for 10-14 days! His lungs were perfect, he was a good size, it was amazing!
Within a couple hours I was up walking, had a shower unaided, peed easily. It was the polar opposite of my first labor, even now I am still surprised that I am able to do things, it is such a relief.
Throughout the night I tried nursing, but Nemo was a "poky" eater, like they expected. By the next day he still wasn't nursing properly, and his blood sugar dropped, so they took him to the NICU. We found out they were taking him there at the same time a nurse was taking 3 baby vials of blood from his foot to test for Jaundice. He was screaming, even had tears.. Montana was crying in the bathroom, I was crying beside my baby, he was in so much pain. Then we found out they were taking him. I almost lost it.
For the rest of the day and through the night I went to the NICU and both nursed and formula fed Nemo, and they checked his sugars. His sugars went up, and he started eating much more easily. The next morning they took more blood to check for Jaundice, but luckily the levels were low enough that he didn't need the lamp. By the afternoon, I got the best news ever: Nemo's blood sugar was perfect, he was eating, he could go home! So despite his little scare and overnight stay in the NICU, he was out of the hospital before the 48 hour mark.
Nemo is now 3 days old, and doing better every day. He is nursing more, still taking formula. I had to take him for another Jaundice blood test, but I didn't get a phone call so I assume his levels are still low enough to leave him alone. Tomorrow he sees Dr. J. and next week, the pediatrician.
I am doing very well, had a shower today, healing wonderfully. However, I think I'm getting a cold. I've had maybe 12 hours of sleep since Nemo was born, so I'm not surprised my immunity is down. I am taking tons of vitamins, hoping it will help, but I'm so achy.
Everyone is smitten with new baby Nemo, and he looks just like his sister which makes me super happy. We are settling nicely, and I'm basically on cloud 9 somewhere.
This has been one long, difficult road, but my dream has finally come true: I have my baby!
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